Alton casino beats the odds for 30 years
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ALTON — Argosy Casino Alton celebrated its 30th year on the riverfront Friday.
More than 450 passengers were on board that first night — Sept. 24, 1991 — when the Alton Belle Casino riverboat opened. Former state Rep. Jim McPike, D-Alton, pulled the first lever of a slot machine and said, “The Belle will breathe new life into Alton.”
Since then the casino has taken a few deep breaths of its own. It has had name and ownership changes, introduced new games and gambling options, and handled not one but two historic Mississippi River floods.
“We’ve come a long way in 30 years,” said Teresa Jones, a 30-year employee of the casino. “Loading tokens and stuff on the boat — and now we don’t have that stuff.”
The Alton Belle Casino was the first riverboat to offer legal gambling in Illinois. The three-deck boat would cruise the Mississippi River carrying 600 passengers, 296 slot machines and 22 gambling tables.
In 1993 the boat was replaced by a larger vessel, the Alton Belle II. To meet changes in Illinois law, the boat cruised for one hour each day. Seven years later Illinois allowed casinos to be permanently moored. But while the Alton casino no longer cruised the river, it remains today an actual boat.
Last week Argosy Casino Alton paused to celebrate its many longtime employees, such as Jones, Tina Downing, Denny Crank, Lisa Longo, Joy Conlee and Jeff Warr. They shared what it was was like when riverboat gambling came to Alton.
“It was exciting, and fast paced, and busy,” said Jones.
“It was like a new world,” Crank said.
Over the past 30 years, the casino has adapted to gaming trends and advanced technology. Its longtime staff said they, too, have learned to continually adapt.
“There’s always an ongoing change,” Downing said. “You just role with the flow.”
Conlee said the group has been close ever since joining the casino.
“We’ve always considered ourselves a family,” she said.
That family has weathered two historic floods: The Great Flood of 1993 and the floods of 2019.
During the first flood, the casino still managed to cruise the river. While parts of the Alton business district were under water for weeks, the Alton Belle Casino created lengthy, makeshift walkways that allowed guests to reach the boat from dry land.
On Aug. 8, 1993, the Mississippi River at Alton reached 42.72 feet, more than double its flood stage of 21 feet. As a vessel, the casino was under Coast Guard regulations and it sailed. Its employees would either walk the improvised paths to get inside, or they’d paddle over to their jobs.
The 2019 flood, however, brought new challenges with the moored casino unreachable. This time the river crested at 39.01 feet, on June 9, 2019. Flooding forced the Argosy Casino Alton to be closed for 43 days in May and June, finally reopening June 22.
The casino also had to close briefly in December 2008 when it was struck by a barge that broke loose from its moorings. Pressure from ice snapped a cable, causing the barge to float until it stopped against the casino’s employee cafeteria.
But the casino veterans said their biggest challenge has had nothing to do with the river. It was COVID-19.
“It’s been a nightmare, not only personally but for business,” Downing said.
On March 12, 2020, Argosy Casino Alton became the second Illinois casino to offer sports wagering. Four days later, Gov. J.B. Pritzker suspended all casino gambling in the state because of the pandemic.
State COVID-19 regulations silenced Illinois casinos for most of 2020. A short period of limited late summer gaming was stilled by increased mitigations that finally allowed the Alton casino to reopen Jan. 23, 2021 — albeit with limited services and hours.
“That last one (closure) was the hardest, because most of use have spent the holidays together here,” Downing said.
The casino also has had to step up its game to compete with hundreds of gambling terminals in throughout Madison County and last year’s major investment by sports wagering giant FanDuel into the racetrack in Collinsville.
In total, Illinois now has 10 casinos and Missouri has 13. Gamblers have many choices, adding emphasis to the customer service focus at Argosy Casino Alton.
Despite the challenges, however, the longtime Alton employees are excited about the future of the casino. Rashad Wilson, Director of Marketing, shared that the casino will soon be opening a sports lounge on the second floor, with hopes of having it available by the end of the month.
Amid the pandemic, the casino in August recorded 35,101 admissions and $2,988,033 in total adjusted gross receipts. Of that money, $369,002 went to the state and $184,501 went to Alton.
For 2021 so far, the casino has recorded 236,338 admissions and $20,966,628 in total adjusted gross receipts. Of that money, $2,569,338 went to the state and $1,284,669 went to Alton.
The casino currently offers more than 800 gaming devices, varying from slot machines to video poker. Additionally, it has 12 table top games including blackjack, craps, roulette, three-card poker and Texas Hold’em.
Argosy Casino Alton is also home to The Hop House, which has selected brews from local labels as well as sandwiches, appetizers, salads and dinner plates.
